It’s fantastic seeing Kenya continue to make progress on its Vision 2030 plan to be generating 5000MW of geothermal energy by 2030. I was rooting for these projects back in 2011, so I’m glad they’re not making me look bad.

The groundbreaking for the 158MW Olkaria V geothermal site will bring Kenya’s geothermal capacity up to nearly 700MW upon completion. The country’s 5000MW goal is a ways off, but based on the progress made over these more than 15 years and the projects lined up for drilling like the Menengai field, the country could see that goal come into sight quickly.

Ivory Coast is one of the more fantastic growth stories on the continent. The country was deep in civil war less than a decade ago with former president Gbagbo barricaded in his home. Today, Ivory Coast weathered the specter of another uprising and continued its push as one of the fastest African economies. Incredible.

The past couple of years have been rough for Nigeria’s FX reserves as oil prices continued to drop, while Nigeria’s government was operating off a budget that assumed much higher oil prices. This left Nigeria’s FX reserves on the struggle bus as the country pulled all the stops to keep things moving. While the reserves have a ways to go before Nigeria is in a comfortable position, it is an encouraging sign to see the reserves account trending up.